Roaring 20s

March 7, 1993|By LARRY DORMAN, Staff Writer

Ben Crenshaw was sitting on a bench behind the practice tee at Riviera Country Club, checking out the players pounding balls. As he studied some of the swings, fluid moves by men almost 20 years his junior, Crenshaw, 41, sighed audibly and shook his graying head.

``There are so many of them,`` he said. ``Look over there at Phil Mickelson. Now watch this... that is exquisite, isn`t it? Billy Andrade over there, now he can play. And look at Lee Janzen. That is one of the finest moves in golf right there.``

It doesn`t seem like too long ago that we were looking at Ben Crenshaw on the cover of Sports Illustrated under the headline, ``The Young Lions.`` It was a story about him and Lanny Wadkins and Jerry Pate and a few other players who were going to make Jack Nicklaus obsolete. That was nearly 20 years ago.

Now the former young lions are creeping into their 40s and find themselves surrounded by full heads of hair, limber backs and deadly putting strokes. Youth is about to be served. You can watch it unfolding this week at the Honda Classic at Weston Hills, where many of the youngsters who have been popping up on leaderboards from coast to coast will be in evidence.

Just how good is the current crop of 20-year-olds? Well, four of the eight tournaments before the Doral-Ryder Open were won by players in their 20s. Of the 47 players with playing privileges on the tour (23 are fully exempt, 24 are partially exempt), 13 have their first victory and 10 have at least two wins.

Those might not be Nicklaus numbers but isn`t it time to forget the Next Nicklaus thing? There is not now, nor is there likely to be, a Next Nicklaus. Ever. Jack Nicklaus` 70 tournament wins and 20 major championships are as unreachable as Joe DiMaggio`s 56-game hitting streak.

There might not even be a Next Watson. For one of the current group of 20- something-year-olds on the PGA Tour to win, say, 32 tournaments and dominate the game like Tom Watson did in the late `70s and early `80s is about as likely as a return to hickory shafts and gutta percha balls.

But the current crop of PGA Tour youngsters includes plenty of formidable players, and don`t think the gray beards haven`t noticed.

``I think it`s entirely possible that a couple of these young guys could win as many as 20 tournaments,`` said Tom Kite, golf`s all-time leading money winner whose own victory total at age 43 is 19. ``Davis Love certainly could. And Phil Mickelson, goodness, he`s got all the tools.

``There might be someone else who could do it that we don`t know about yet. The thing you`re just not sure about is whether a player is going to be able to block out all the other stuff that comes with winning so he can keep winning. Today, that`s not an easy thing to do. Realistically, you have to hope to be able to average one win a year. And that`s tough.``

True enough. Just look at the best PGA Tour regulars who are in their 30s. Fred Couples, John Cook, Nick Price, Corey Pavin, Paul Azinger, Greg Norman, Mark O`Meara, Payne Stewart. Of that group, only Pavin and Norman have 10 wins. Exclude Nick Faldo because he`s too busy winning majors and playing the European Tour.

But there`s a group of youngsters who just might have the right stuff. To be on the select list a player must be in his 20s, so rookie John Flannery -- though a promising young player at 30 -- doesn`t qualify. Neither does Rocco Mediate, also 30. Here`s a look at the tops in their 20s:

LEAGUE OF HIS OWN

Davis Love III, 28 -- With seven victories and career earnings of nearly $3.5 million in seven seasons, Love is the best young player on the PGA Tour and one of the best in the world. He has tremendous length, but has reined it in to develop control. The result has been a positive attitude he needs to be a good player for a long time. He no longer puts undue pressure on himself, and he will win a major championship very soon. Once he gets the first one, more should follow.

CREAM OF THE CROP

Phil Mickelson, 22 -- Fred Couples says Mickelson, 22, is ``one in a million... one of our top 10 or 15 players right now.`` With two PGA Tour victories already, Mickelson has a chance to become the best of his generation and one of the best of the last several decades. The keys are that he drives the ball a long way and putts extremely well with a stroke reminiscent of Crenshaw`s best. ``This guy can really putt his ball,`` Payne Stewart says.

John Daly, 26 -- More than just a long-driving sideshow, Daly has plenty of ability around the greens and is still very young in the game. The victory in the 1991 PGA Championship was a blessing and a curse. Not only did it thrust him into the glare of the spotlight before he was emotionally equipped to handle it, but it also raised unrealistic expectations. His victory in the 1992 B.C. Open proved he`s more than a fluke, and he has dealt maturely with alcohol problems that sent him into rehab.